Have you been looking for a simpler way to track, organize, and assign project tasks without paying for additional Microsoft Project licenses? Do you also want an app that can be integrated with your existing Office 365 Active Directory environment so resources are already available to be assigned and communicated with via Exchange or Skype for Business?

If the answer is yes to either, then the Microsoft Office 365 Planner app is worth your time to try. In fact, if you have one of the following plans then you already have the Planner app available:

  • Office 365 Enterprise E1, E3, E4, E5
  • Office 365 Education
  • Office 365 Education E3, E4
  • Office 365 Business Essentials
  • Office 365 Business Premium

*Planner may be added to additional plans in the future, so check the Microsoft site periodically

So what is the Planner app? Simply put, it is a tool that allows for better organization within a project or marketing event through the use of visual organization aids and Office 365 integration for easy file sharing and collaboration, progress tracking, and reporting for assigned team members. Manage a single project or dozens, even – all from an intuitive console.

How can it work for you? Let’s start with the Planner hub, which gives you an easy-to-read visual of your project statuses for various customers or projects. The Planner works on all devices, for easy tracking at any time.

microsoft office 365 planner

Next, let’s look at the Board view where tasks can be grouped (individuals, departments, or task type, etc.) for easier organization:

microsoft office 365 planner

Next is the Charts view, which shows who tasks are assigned to, along with the total of assigned tickets that are not started, late, in progress, or completed:

microsoft office 365 planner

Additional features are available such as a Notebook, Calendar, and several others shown below:

microsoft office 365 planner

Planner allows a project manager to efficiently track assigned project tasks for everyone in their company, while allowing for communication and file sharing from a single platform so that they aren’t spread across multiple applications. The best part? Assigned tasks and their updates are automatically emailed to the appropriate resources.

Here are other things that can be done using Planner:

How easy is it to get started with creating a plan for your Active Directory integrated Office 365 environment? In just four steps, you can be off and running:

Read more about the app on the Microsoft site.

If you would like to talk more about this product or about getting Project Management help for your business project, send us an email or give us a call at 502-240-0404!